


a rebel without a clue

by shrike_111



Category: The Tempest - Shakespeare
Genre: Alternate Universe - Office, F/F, Gen, Genderbending, Unrequited Love, Urban Fantasy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-04
Updated: 2021-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-16 02:35:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29199951
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shrike_111/pseuds/shrike_111
Summary: They met at the stairs Andrea’s first day at the job and it just kind of became their thing, walking up Prospero’s Magic Systems’ deserted staircase, complaining about Shitty Dave. Andrea took the stairs that first day because the elevators were full of people and she felt like she was going to jump out of her skin at the sheer mass of bodies crowded into such a small space. Cali took the stairs because people kept looking at her face and then quickly looking away.
Relationships: Ariel & Caliban (The Tempest)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 8





	a rebel without a clue

**Author's Note:**

> hello random internet person, please enjoy this "office au but make it magical and full of sapphic longing" tempest reimagining
> 
> (the title's from phoebe bridgers' "graceland too", a song that I became obssessed with only after writing this story, but that somehow captures everything i wanted to say about andrea and cali)

Andrea took a deep breath, looked in the mirror, and said with perfect calm: “You will not murder your boss today. You will not cause his violent death because then you would get caught and you would go to jail, and your mom would be sad.” She turned to her right and said: “Okay, now you, Cali.”

Cali looked extremely unimpressed, just as she did every morning when they met up at the 3rd floor bathroom to perform their pre-work ritual. Still, she was a good friend, so she heaved an unnecessarily dramatic sigh (“There is no such thing as unnecessarily dramatic, Andrea, what the fuck. Don’t you have any panache in your sad, sad soul?”) and said in the deadest possible monotone: “You will not murder your boss today. You will not cause his violent death because then you would get caught and you would go to jail, and your mom would be sad.” The mirror in front of them grew opaque and shivered as their intent seeped into it, then settled.

“I still don’t get how this even works, my mom is fucking dead,” Cali grumbled as they were leaving the bathroom.

“Maybe she’s watching over you from above?” Andrea said, cringing even as she was saying it. “Yeah, yeah, don’t give me that look, okay, some people believe in that shit. It helps them reach emotional and spiritual healing.”

“… _Ew_. Anyway, I have this theory, okay? I think her magical trace is still present in the building. That’s why our Don’t Kill Shitty Dave ritual can bind my intent in the mirror every morning.”

Andrea looked at Cali thoughtfully as they walked up the stairs. (They met at the stairs Andrea’s first day at the job and it just kind of became their thing, walking up Prospero’s Magic Systems’ deserted staircase, complaining about Shitty Dave. Andrea took the stairs that first day because the elevators were full of people and she felt like she was going to jump out of her skin at the sheer mass of bodies crowded into such a small space. Cali took the stairs because people kept looking at her face and then quickly looking away.) It occurred to Andrea then, as it often did when Cali brought up her mom, that she would never completely understand her. Not because she was an orphan, or because of her scars. Those fucking sucked, but at least Cali would talk to Andrea about it. She would make objectively horrible yo mama jokes, and throw petty curses at the people who treated her weird because of the way she looked, and get ugly-drunk on the weekends on Andrea’s ratty living room sofa.

But Cali never really talked about her legacy. Like the fact that her mom was the boss of PMS (in Director Sycorax’s time it was just Magic Systems, but of course that asshole had to put his name in there, the world’s stupidest abbreviation be damned) before she died, and Shitty Dave took over. Like the fact that her magic was so strong and all-encompassing that it could bleed into the foundations of the building and bind her daughter’s intent twenty years after her passing. Sometimes, Andrea thought Cali never talked about it because it wasn’t even something she consciously thought about. Her mom’s legacy, the power that she inherited from her, the fact breathing their building’s shitty AC air expanded Cali’s lungs and filled them with energy and magic – those were just things that had always been there for her. Andrea, with her small-town memories of chasing magic like an impossible dream and her wide-eyed joy at getting a full ride to a college with an Air Manipulations department (“You do realize that you basically got a scholarship to become a hired assassin, right? Invisibility, creating auditory hallucinations, flying,… that’s all grade-A magic ninja shit right there.” “Some days I really fucking wish I became a ninja.” “Yeah, I bet you do, sis.”) couldn’t really imagine being in Cali’s shoes. Being born into magic, into a place like PMS, and having to wake up in the morning with the knowledge that she would be spending yet another day climbing 7 flights of stairs to make Shitty Dave’s coffee. Andrea _did_ hate her job (being a fully trained and highly specialized witch working as the junior publicist to her boss’s brainless daughter sucked balls), and she _did_ think about maiming Shitty Dave at least once a week, but in her heart of hearts she knew their “You will not murder your boss” spiel was more for Cali’s benefit than her own.

She reached out and touched Cali’s arm, stopping her in her tracks. “Do you think you could go work somewhere else? Like, if some fancy ass company called you up and said, ‘We heard you are a young witch with a love for teamwork and a can-do attitude, would you like to help us magically mass-produce farting spells?’”

Cali snorted and shook her head, “I think I should at least go for full-on magical laxatives, get that good pharmaceutical cash.”

“No, seriously.” Andrea said, still holding on to Cali’s arm. “Could you ever just say fuck you to all of this and get a job somewhere random?” Somewhere, it was implied, where she wouldn’t be delegated to the shittiest job, just because the boss wanted to show everyone that _he_ was in charge, even if they did have the great Director Sycorax’s daughter under their company’s roof. Somewhere where she could actually use her power for more than heating up Shitty Dave’s lunch and magically fixing the office printer. Somewhere where her power could even potentially grow.

Cali looked at her, a carefully blank expression on her face, and Andrea knew that she somehow understood everything that was behind her question. _Did I read you completely wrong? Are you actually, deep down, weighed down by your mom’s legacy? Do you stay here, cowering and small, because to leave would mean entering a world where you could be happy and free, but where the magical trace wouldn’t feel like home? Like her?_

“Would _you_ go work somewhere else?” she finally replied, her voice even.

“Yeah,” said Andrea, without a thought.

“Then what are you waiting for? Why are you still curating Mimi’s godawful company social media posts?” Cali asked her, her face still impassive.

_You. I’m waiting for you. Every morning I make us do a stupid fucking ritual binding us not to kill our asshole of a boss, just so you can do your job and not go off the deep end. Every day I walk 7 flights of stairs with you, even though I’ve worked through my thing with the elevators. I love seeing you brimming over with magic. I hate that you don’t use it for shit because you’d rather be powerful and useless here than slightly above average and alone in the world. I hate that you would consider yourself to be alone in the world if you severed your link to this place and made one to me._

“Oh, you know, can’t leave PMS until Mimi finally gets her head out of her ass and stops posting selfies meant for her boyfriend on the company’s account”, she laughed nervously, letting go of her hold of Cali’s arm. She turned and started walking towards the door to Mimi’s office, when Cali said “Hey.” Andrea turned. Cali was silent for a long second, and then cracked a smile and said “Text me if Mimi and Freddie pull some really stupid shit, okay? You know their idiotic romance gives me life”. She turned and walked into Shitty Dave’s office.

“Yeah, idiotic romance sure is something,” Andrea muttered under her breath, then stood up straight, walked into Mimi’s office, and started her day.

**Author's Note:**

> if anyone reads this and wants more of that sweet sweet sapphic pining (or an appearance from any of the other characters from the tempest lol) hit me up in the comments! also just a general thank you to anyone who might read this, your kudos/comments/eyeball activity(??) is greatly appreciated!! Have a lovely day :))


End file.
